Canada's Oldest and Largest Independent Brewer Will Release a Line of Cannabis Beverages

Canada's oldest and largest independent brewer is making a big splash in the cannabis industry.

New Brunswick's Moosehead Breweries, which has been in the beer business for more than 150 years, recently announced plans to release a line of cannabis-infused drinks to the Canadian market through a joint venture with Sproutly - a licensed cannabis producer based in Toronto.

The new line of cannabis drinks will be made using Infuz2O - Sproutly's proprietary process for developing water-soluble cannabinoids. Using that process, Moosehead and Sproutly say they will be able to craft beverages that can overcome two age-old problems with cannabis-infused foods and drinks.

One of the biggest issues with edibles is predictability. Pot brownies can take anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour to kick in. Because of that delay, many impatient consumers make the mistake of taking more edibles too soon. Overdoing it on edibles isn't a life-threatening problem, but it can cause panic attacks and other uncomfortable experiences. On top of that, it can be extremely difficult to predict when an edible will wear off, so those unpleasant side effects could last for a couple of hours or an entire evening.

But Moosehead and Sproutly's new canna-beverages are designed to avoid those problems by cutting out the wait time. The infused drinks will kick in within 5 minutes, which is over 90 percent faster than the average edible. And the duration of the high is also predictable, lasting up to 90 minutes. So drinking one of these beverages will give you an experience that is as predictable as smoking a joint, but without the smoke that can harm your lungs.

"The Infuz20 technology delivers a natural cannabis beverage experience, with an onset and offset time similar to traditional flower cannabis, without the need for chemical modification. We believe this will be a game changer for the sector,” Matthew Oland - incoming CEO of the joint venture - said via press release.

On top of that, Moosehead CEO Andrew Oland says the drink "actually tastes good," which is something that other beverage makers have been struggling with.

"With [Sproutly's] advanced technology and our long-standing product development experience, we expect to bring to Canadian consumers cannabis beverages that address the major issues currently limiting appeal of this category in other markets; a beverage that: 1) actually tastes good; and 2) provides an immediate and controllable cannabis experience lasting up to 90 minutes,” Oland said.

For Sproutly, the joint venture is also part of their mandate to offer safe and consistent cannabis experiences to customers.

"This partnership with Moosehead marks an important milestone in Sproutly’s mission of delivering a safe and consistent whole plant experience from cannabis," Sproutly CEO and Director Keith Dolo said via press release. "We have developed a relationship with Moosehead built on trust and our shared vision of creating safe, responsible and high-quality cannabis beverages and we look forward to making this a reality for Canadian consumers."

Details about the flavors and the release date for the new line will be announced at a later date as the joint venture gets underway.

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